Sunday, February 24, 2013

Affirming his status as a True Yankee by taking the cash over any other considerations…

Alex Rodriguez’s only World Series ring is up for auction, although Rodriguez himself is not the one who consigned it.

As 1010 WINS’ Gene Michaels reported, Rodriguez’s 2009 World Series ring is not being sold by the Yankees third baseman himself, but by an auctioneer who bought it from his cousin, Yuri Sucart – the man A-Rod said convinced him to use steroids.

And some think the ring might garner $40,000 when the auction ends April 5.

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Now I'm more pruriently interested in why "Alex Rodriguez made numerous replica World Series rings for friends and family." Maybe it's like me making .pdfs when one of my essays appeared in Best American Food Writing? AROD cannot win :)

Voros, you got a ring? Awesome. Anyway, this story already rang untrue to me, as I couldn't understand why Arod's ring is in someone else's hands already. I guess he could've given it away as a gift but still.

Has any major star who only has one ring ever had a better postseason performance in getting it than A-Rod did in 2009?
6 HR and 5 2B, 19 RBI, 15 R in only 52 AB with 19 H overall plus 12 BB and 2 SB/no CS
multiply everything by 10, and that's a nice full 640 PA season, lol

Has any major star who only has one ring ever had a better postseason performance in getting it than A-Rod did in 2009?

Dave Winfield was pretty good in the 1992 ALCS...though not so much the World Series.

Barry Bonds in 2002 is the obvious one.

72 PA
16 hits
2 doubles
1 triple
8 home runs
27 walks

All going towards the World Series Championship which Shawon Dunston locked up with his home run which gave them a 5-0 lead in the 7th inning of game six. I stopped watching at that point, surely they didn't blow that lead?

For his full career he wasn't a major star, but he was sure as hell was one in 1988. And when Orel won his only ring that year, he more than acquitted himself in the postseason (3-0 in 5 starts, plus one save. 5 ER in 42 innings pitched, 32 Ks/13 BBs, while helping his team beat two superior opponents).

Has any major star who only has one ring ever had a better postseason performance in getting it than A-Rod did in 2009?
6 HR and 5 2B, 19 RBI, 15 R in only 52 AB with 19 H overall plus 12 BB and 2 SB/no CS
multiply everything by 10, and that's a nice full 640 PA season, lol

You really shouldn't compare pitchers to position players in this line of thinking. A pitcher, pitching 3 or more games out of 7 or so, has a lot more impact on the success of his team than any hitter can have in 7 games. If you do allow pitchers, Hoss Radbourne, 1884, probably has the crown in his trophy case, since he pitched every inning of three consecutive games, all wins, giving up zero earned runs, winning two over Tim Keefe, after which they declared the series over. He did let in 3 UNearned runs, this being 1884. After 1893, Mathewson is a real good pick, although that particular series went five games, ALL of which were shutouts, won or lost. A lot of the other prime contenders, like Bob Gibson, have more than one ring. I'm actually surprised that Christy has only one ring against three series lost. - Brock Hanke

How about a player with only one ring in only one postseason? As in, he had one shot, and he made the most of it and took the rest of his team with him.

Randy Winn is an interesting case in that he never got a shot. Never got to the post-season, but at the end of his career in 2009-2010 he played for the Yankees, Giants, and Cardinals - who won the World Series in 2009, 2010 and 2011...and didn't get into any playoff games with any of them.

How about a player with only one ring in only one postseason? As in, he had one shot, and he made the most of it and took the rest of his team with him.

Very hard to find anyone who played in only 1 PS, had a great series(s), and his team won it all. You'd probably have to stretch to fit the definition of great, and that's probably a dissatisfying answer. Lou Boudreau was OK I guess in 1948, also considering he was the manager. But Larry Doby was probably better, and Doby is disqualified because he played in the 1954 WS as well. That sort of thing. Maybe Dusty Rhodes in 1954, but he batted only 6 times, though he drove in 7 of 21 total runs.

Tommie Agee had only the one postseason and was pretty good (though in the inaugural NLCS and not the WS) but not great. Similarly, Clendenon also had only the one and was huge in the World Series but didn't play in the NLCS.

Scott Podsednik and Joe Crede both played very well in the 2005 postseason, which was the only one that either man had. Podsednik hit two home runs in that postseason after going 568 plate appearances without any homers in the regular season.

Roger Bresnahan had a .500 OBP in the 1905 World Series and caught every inning for a staff that didn't allow a single earned run.

How about a player with only one ring in only one postseason? As in, he had one shot, and he made the most of it and took the rest of his team with him.

Dusty Rhodes, 1954. 3 G, 7 PA, 6AB, 4H, 2HR, 7RBI, 2.381 OPS. His first home run was a 260 ft. popup that ended the "Willie Mays catch game", and his second went over the Polo Grounds roof. It was his only postseason, and the Giants crushed the overrated 111-win Indians in a 4 game sweep. Talk about short and sweet.